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3 yr old will not eat dinner!

Britrichele17Britrichele17
in Pre-School and Daycare

Lately, dinner time is a disaster. My three year old refuses to eat dinner. I make sure not to give her any snacks too close to dinner to insure that she is hungry. Usually as I'm making dinner she will start to ask for snacks so I know she's hungry. We all sit down to eat together and she just sings and pokes at her food. We have tried setting a timer for dinner because she just sits there. When the timer goes off dinner is over and if she doesn't eat then no snacks and if she's hungry before bed then she eats her dinner. That worked for a while and now she ends up just going to bed hungry which she doesn't seem to have a problem with. Last night she went to bed hungry and for lunch she had to eat her leftover dinner from the night before. Of course come lunch time she refused to eat it again, skipping another meal....I don't know what to do!!

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Re: 3 yr old will not eat dinner!

  • echowysp2echowysp2

    It's pretty standard behavior for this age and part of the control they try to exert on their environment.  

    I'm not sure why she had to eat her left over dinner for lunch, though.  If it's because you didn't want to waste it, that's fine, but if it was part of her punishment, I don't see that doing much good.  

    Personally, I don't stress about dinner .  My mom did and it caused food anxiety in me growing up. Dinner became a battle that sadly, she wouldn't give up. So, I might be a bit more lax than some, but at this age, as long as they sit with us and their food during the day is healthy, I don't care much if they pick at dinner.  From what I've read, young children tend to eat more during breakfast and lunch and less at dinner.

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  • meldoo2002meldoo2002 member
    I wouldn't worry too much about it.  I offer 3-4 things that we are eating.. they eat what they eat and we don't stress about it.  

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  • lovely40lovely40 member
    I don't worry much about it. As long as she sits with us at the table it's fine with me if she doesn't want to eat. I just make sure the the food she is snacking on is healthy whole foods like fruit/veggies/nuts etc... then it doesn't bother me if instead of eating dinner she has a pear or carrots an hour later. Don't stress - it's just a phase, they will eat when they are hungry and as long as healthy food is the only option any time it doesn't matter when they eat it. :)
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  • jalaiaajalaiaa
    Same as the others. If they don't eat they don't eat. But if they don't I always tell them that there won't be snacks after dinner. But I agree with the pp that I wouldn't make her eat it at the next meal. I don't like to punish for not eating.  
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  • ncbellencbelle member

    Personally I'd drop any attempts like the timer to force her.  It's pretty common for kids this age to not eat dinner - Callum always eats way more earlier in the day.  Sometimes he eats a "big" dinner but sometimes just a few bites.  Our rule is what's for dinner is what's for dinner and no snacks after.

    It's definitely partly about control....the less of an issue you make it, the less of an issue it is.   



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  • KathrynMDKathrynMD member

    ditto everyone else - let it go.  This is not a power struggle you want to be in.

    We generally have a "you get waht you get at dinner" and that's that.  Sometimes I will offer her some yogurt and fruit if its a new meal and she's not feeling it.

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